Strengthening Emergency Preparedness and Resilience in Haiti Standard Project Report 2016

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1 Fighting Hunger Worldwide Project Number: Project Category: Single Country PRRO Project Approval Date: February 11, 2014 Start Date: April 01, 2014 Actual Start Date: April 15, 2014 Project End Date: June 30, 2018 Financial Closure Date: N/A Contact Info Lorene Didier Country Director Ronald Tran Ba Huy Further Information SPR Reading Guidance Strengthening Emergency Preparedness and Resilience in Haiti Standard Project Report 2016 World Food Programme in Haiti, Republic of (HT)

2 Table Of Contents Country Context and WFP Objectives Country Context Response of the Government and Strategic Coordination Summary of WFP Operational Objectives Country Resources and Results Resources for Results Achievements at Country Level Supply Chain Implementation of Evaluation Recommendations and Lessons Learned Project Objectives and Results Project Objectives Project Activities Operational Partnerships Performance Monitoring Results/Outcomes Progress Towards Gender Equality Protection and Accountability to Affected Populations Capacity Strengthening Figures and Indicators Data Notes Overview of Project Beneficiary Information Participants and Beneficiaries by Activity and Modality Participants and Beneficiaries by Activity (excluding nutrition) Nutrition Beneficiaries Project Indicators Resource Inputs from Donors Haiti, Republic of (HT) Single Country PRRO

3 Country Context and WFP Objectives Country Context Haiti is the only low-income country in the Americas. It ranks 163rd of 188 countries on the 2015 Human Development Index. Chronic poverty is widespread throughout the country and has major implications on food security and nutrition. More than 50 percent of the population is undernourished according to the Global Hunger Index, and 24 percent of children are chronically malnourished according to the latest government mortality, morbidity and service utilization survey (Enquête Mortalité, Morbidité et Utilisation des Services - EMMUS-V 2012). Haiti also faces serious challenges in the education sector with 37 percent of the population without a formal schooling (EMMUS-V 2012). Underlying drivers of food insecurity include frequent natural disasters and environmental degradation, exacerbated by the fact that a large part of the population relies on subsistance farming for a living. On the 2016 Climate Risk Index, Haiti is third among the countries most affected by extreme weather events. In 2016, Haiti experienced its third consecutive year of drought, which severely affected food production, and was hit by a category 4 hurricane, the worst registered in the last 10 years. Hurricane Matthew caused wide scale destruction and, as the rapid EFSA in October 2016 showed, severely affected the food security of 800,000 people as well as the food production in the Grande-Anse, Sud and Nippes departments. Haiti currently does not produce enough food for its population. More than 50 percent of the country's needs and 80 percent of its main staple, rice, are imported (The State of Food Insecurity in the World, SOFI, 2014). This makes the country vulnerable to inflation and price volatility in international markets. Haiti, Republic of (HT) 3 Single Country PRRO

4 The Government started putting in place social safety net programmes to ensure the poorest populations can meet their basic needs in terms of food security and nutrition. Due to natural disasters, chronic underfunding and political instability, marked by frequent changes in leadership, staff and responsibilities, implementation of social safety net programmes relies on the support of donors and implementing partners. Response of the Government and Strategic Coordination The National Coordination for Food Security (CNSA) is the state entity responsible for guiding public policies to sustainably improve the food security of the Haitian people. Specifically, CNSA undertakes the following tasks: defines, directs and harmonizes interventions by actors in the food security sector in Haiti; monitors and evaluates the national food security situation and the results of field programs and projects; and, disseminates information. In 2016, several food security assessments and Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analyses undertaken by CNSA with the support of WFP and other UN agencies, national authorities, non-governmental organisations (NGO) and key food security stakeholders, were key to inform humanitarian food security interventions. The IPC is a set of standardized tools to classify the severity and magnitude of food insecurity based on international standards using consensus-building processes to provide decision makers with an analysis of food insecurity along with objectives for response in both emergency and development contexts. The Government set up and leads a national school meals working group (Table Sectorielle de l'alimentation Scolaire), which includes representatives of the Government, donors, NGOs, international organisations and local communities, and coordinates the support to the national school feeding program to avoid duplication of efforts. The Government considers school meals to be a crucial investment in human capital, as it contributes simultaneously to improve access to education, health and nutrition, and in the long-term to the reduction of extreme poverty and vulnerability. The Government aims to build a strong public school system and a nationally owned, funded and managed school meals program linked to local agriculture by This vision is embodied in the National School Feeding Policy approved in 2016 which was drafted by a team led by a WFP consultant. In line with the government view of supporting local economies and agriculture, WFP is supporting the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (MENFP) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARNDR) to link school meals with local markets and producers. WFP is part of the Kore Lavi consortium: a joint implementation team of WFP, the Cooperative For American Relief Every Where (CARE) and Action Contre la Faim (ACF) to create a food safety net and nutrition program. Kore Lavi, kreol for Supporting Life', covers 5 departments in Haiti. Through the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor (MAST), in partnership with WFP under the Kore Lavi consortium, a database to identify, target and register vulnerable households was developed. The goal is to set up a national information system to enable the Government to collect and analyze information on vulnerable households, centralize data management, facilitate the creation of a single registry of beneficiaries and reinforce coordination mechanisms. This information system will support the implementation and management of social safety net programmes. To strengthen national disaster management and preparedness, the Government participates in the forecast-based financing initiative led by WFP which involves the Governments of Haiti, Dominican Republic and Cuba. The initiative aims to improve South-South collaboration in disaster management, particularly in developing early warning systems to trigger early action to mitigate the impact of disasters and save lives. In 2016, the Government led the Hurricane Matthew response through several entities, such as the National Emergency Operation Center (COUN), the Directorate for Civil Protection (DPC), the Departmental Emergency Operation Center (COUD) in Les Cayes and Jeremie, MAST and the CNSA. These governmental institutions co-chaired with WFP the Logistics and the Food Security (also with FAO) working groups, which were established to support and coordinate a large-scale response to Hurricane Matthew. WFP actively participates in the work on the UN Integrated Strategic Framework for Haiti (ISF) and the establishment of a common set of indicators across UN actors (UNDAF). Several WFP experts attended workshops and retreats organized in 2016 providing inputs to address poverty reduction, food security and social services. Summary of WFP Operational Objectives Working with donors, UN agencies and NGOs, WFP supports the Haitian Government in developing sustainable solutions to hunger and malnutrition. The main pillars of the country strategy are food and nutrition safety nets, emergency preparedness and response, and strengthening national capacity. In 2016, WFP reached more than 1.5 million food insecure Haitians in all ten departments through school meals, general food assistance in response to natural disasters, food assistance for assets, and nutrition interventions. Haiti, Republic of (HT) 4 Single Country PRRO

5 Development project: DEV ( ), Assistance to the National School Feeding Programme in Haiti, with an approved budget of USD 124 million, aimed to distribute mid-day hot meals to 485,000 school aged children in the Haitian public school system. This was complemented by a home-grown school meals pilot project (funded by a trust fund) which provided schools with foods produced locally by small holder farmers. Both the DEV project and the trust fund supported the Government towards its vision of a national school meals program linked to local agriculture by 2030, with the DEV providing significant support for policy development. In line with WFP Strategic Objective (SO) 4, this project aimed to increase access to education and give greater priority to human capital in schools, to improve the nutritional status of the targeted children, to increase government capacities to pursue and expand a sustainable school meals programme and to identify and incorporate solutions to combating hunger into national policies. By providing school meals, school attendance as well as learning are expected to improve and a safety net is provided for vulnerable populations. Protracted relief and recovery operation: PRRO ( ), Strengthening Emergency Preparedness and Resilience in Haiti, approved budget USD 155 million. This operation was designed to support government efforts to respond to the needs of at-risk and affected populations and facilitate their recovery. It focused on nutrition activities to reduce undernutrition and break the intergenerational cycle of hunger (SO4) and on improving access to assets and basic services, through resilience-building activities that facilitated recovery from natural disasters and mitigated their impact (SO2). However, as the Hurricane Matthew hit the country, most of the interventions focused on saving lives and protecting livelihoods in emergencies (SO1) to stabilize and improve the food consumption of targeted households. WFP aimed to provide lifesaving assistance to more than 800,000 affected people, and to distribute monthly nutritious rations to 40,000 pregnant and lactating women and to 95,000 children aged 6 to 59 months to treat and prevent acute and chronic malnutrition in hurricane affected areas, in treatment centres and as part of Kore Lavi. This operation also supported the setting up of the country's first vulnerability database hosted and managed by the Government and accessible to all humanitarian partners, and it strengthened the government institution responsible for social safety nets. Emergency Operation: EMOP (2016), Emergency Response to Drought, approved budget USD 85 million, aimed at providing emergency assistance to vulnerable households whose food and nutrition security had been adversely affected by the third consecutive year of drought and the El Niño phenomenon. The operation addressed the most critical and immediate needs of the people affected by three consecutive years of drought, providing cash transfers through mobile phone technology and distributing specialized nutritious foods, in line with Strategic Objective 1 ("Save lives and protect livelihoods in emergencies"). The operation also aimed at improving access to assets and basic services, by supporting soil conservation and improving resilience to drought, in line with Strategic Objective 2 ("Restoring food security and nutrition and rebuilding livelihoods in fragile settings and following emergencies"). Special Operation: SO ( ), Logistics and Telecommunications Augmentation and Coordination in Response to the Hurricane Matthew in Haiti, approved budget USD 10 million, supported the Hurricane Matthew relief efforts of the humanitarian community and the Government of Haiti through logistics and emergency telecommunications coordination and augmentation, thus contributing to save lives and protect livelihoods in emergencies (SO1). Two emergency preparedness projects supported the National Coordination for Food Security (CNSA) in conducting an Emergency Food Security Assessments (EFSA) to assess the need of an intervention as a response to the ongoing drought and provided funds to prepare for the first days of immediate response to the Hurricane Matthew. Both operations contributed to save lives and protect livelihoods in emergencies (SO1). Haiti, Republic of (HT) 5 Single Country PRRO

6 Country Resources and Results Resources for Results At the beginning of the year, the WFP Haiti portfolio was planned at USD 59 million. However, by the end of the year, the needs for 2016 had increased by USD 127 million to USD 186 million, as follows: PRRO budget revision 1: decrease by USD 8 million, to eliminate overlap of food assistance for populations affected by the drought and covered under EMOP and remove discontinued activities. PRRO budget revisions 2 and 3: net increase of USD 44 million to provide food assistance to 800,000 people affected by Hurricane Matthew. New EMOP and budget revision 1: USD 85 million to provide food assistance to 1 million people affected by the drought. New IR-EMOP : USD 0.3 million to prepare for the response to Hurricane Matthew. New Special Operation : USD 7 million to provide logistics and emergency telecommunications services to the humanitarian community to support their response to Hurricane Matthew. Following the increasing needs caused by the drought and hurricane Matthew, contributions to Haiti's projects reached USD 80 million, which was nearly twice the annual average contributions from Nevertheless, the contributions represented only 43 percent of the USD 186 million resourcing requirements. The funding gap negatively impacted WFP's ability to reach the number of people in need and to fully meet all planned objectives, most notably in the EMOP. The EMOP was set up to support one million drought affected people. Given the limited contributions received at the beginning of the intervention (only 14 percent of the requirements had been confirmed by May 2016), WFP started the operation with a reduced geographical coverage, a reduced number of beneficiaries, and a reduced transfer value. However, an in-depth household targeting exercise ensured the most vulnerable were reached in the most drought affected areas. By project end, only 25 percent of the resourcing requirements had been met. Nearly all of the contributions came from three funding sources: ECHO, USA and multilateral contributions. Predictable annual funding to the PRRO from CARE, Canada, Switzerland and Germany allowed WFP to plan for and implement emergency preparedness, nutrition and food assistance for assets activities, design the vulnerability database and institutionalize the social safety net. Thanks to Canadian and multilateral contributions which provided funding for contingency food stocks, WFP could begin food distributions to hurricane affected populations within a week of the hurricane hitting Haiti. Immediate and strong donor interest to support the hurricane response allowed WFP headquarters to approve internal advance financing of USD 19 million, to fund purchases of locally available cereals and call forward stocks from the Global Commodity Management Facility. In-kind contributions from US government prepositioned stock were also critical for timely filling of the food pipeline. By the end of the year, three months after the hurricane hit, contributions for the hurricane response had reached approximately 60 percent of the funding requirements. Overall, more than half of the contributions for the hurricane response came from the USA; additional significant resources came from UN CERF, Canada, Switzerland, Japan and multilateral contributions, and there was a robust response from the private sector. For the school meals program, Haiti's reinstatement as a priority country under the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) led to a contribution for the 2016/17 school year. The USDA contribution, as well as the continued strong financial support from Canada and Brazil (under a trust fund) and the private sector, allowed WFP to reach more than 490,000 children in Despite these contributions, as overall resources for the school meals program declined, and WFP had to reduce the number of children targeted by 20 percent for the 2016/17 school year. Contributions and pledges to Special Operation were immediate and generous, especially from the US. This was critical as it enabled WFP to commit to the provision of cargo and passenger air services and coastal shipping to the humanitarian community, when poor infrastructure and heightening security risks constrained transport by road. The hurricane response, both food assistance under the PRRO and logistics and emergency telecommunications services under the Special Operation, received invaluable support from the deployment of staff and equipment under Standby Partnership agreements. Complementing the large scale deployment of WFP staff from other offices, thirteen stand-by partner staff were deployed to Haiti for the hurricane response as well as a team from the International Humanitarian Partnership who constructed a base camp in Jeremie. In an overall difficult funding situation WFP focused on targeting the most vulnerable populations and areas. WFP has been continuously working together with donors to use available funding more efficiently, while striving to Haiti, Republic of (HT) 6 Single Country PRRO

7 identify new funding sources. Donors showed great flexibility to shift food from other operations, namely from school meals to the emergency response. Additionally, donors approved the re-allocation of cash resources from the EMOP to the PRRO when drought activities had to be suspended under the EMOP due to the hurricane and these were transferred to the PRRO. In 2016, the WFP Country Office in Port-au-Prince moved to new office facilities. The Country Office had been housed in prefabricated offices on the MINUSTAH Logistics Base (Log Base) since the 2010 earthquake. This lead to difficult work conditions, challenges for internal communication and long commutes to meet with government counterparts, donors and cooperating partners. The new and more modern facilities were a step forward for staff wellness and productivity. Achievements at Country Level In 2016, Haiti faced two major natural disasters: a third consecutive year of drought and Hurricane Matthew. In order to provide an effective response, WFP worked alongside the Government and partners to implement activities aligned with WFP's Strategic Objective 1 ("Saving lives and protecting livelihoods in emergencies") through general food distribution, cash transfers, nutrition activities as well as prevention of moderate acute malnutrition; and Strategic Objective 2 ("Support food and nutrition security and (re)building livelihoods in fragile settings and following emergencies"). WFP reached approximately 1,2 million beneficiaries under Strategic Objective 1 and assisted 123,000 beneficiaries under Strategic Objective 2 to rebuild their livelihoods after the drought and hurricane emergency. In addition to scaling up activities to respond to shocks, WFP continued its nutrition activities for the prevention of stunting, MAM treatment and the school meals programme under Strategic Objective 4 ("Reduce undernutrition and break the intergenerational cycle of hunger"), reaching over half a million people. The school meals programme increased enrollment and retention rates and also supported the local economy through local purchases. Under a complementary trust fund, WFP continued its Home Grown School Feeding pilot project in Nippes department launched in October Thanks to its operational success and to the support by the Government, the number of students reached increased from 3,500 to approximately 7,000, receiving nutritious and diversified seasonal menus including cereals, pulses, fresh vegetables, root tubers and milk. This pilot project worked towards scaling up the provision of fresh food by local farmers to school meals. Thanks to food assistance for assets activities under the EMOP and PRRO, that supported the rehabilitation of rural feeder roads, the transport of agricultural products to markets became possible in areas previously inaccessible and some beneficiaries could start or resume small-scale business. In addition, land conservation and reforestation activities improved communities' ability to face recurrent droughts, frequent hurricanes and tropical storms. Interventions improved the food consumption of participants and their families, and made them more resilient against shocks, such as hurricanes. WFP provided technical assistance and training on food security data analysis and reporting to the Government, notably to the National Food Security Coordination Unit (CNSA). As a result, CNSA technicians elaborated five national food security reports. These efforts helped national institutions prepare rapid comprehensive assessments, facilitate timely decision-making by government and humanitarian actors in their response to emergencies. WFP also supported the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training inestablishing and implementing its first school meals policy, helped the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor maintain the largest social protection database in the country, worked with the Directorate for Civil Protection in developing its contingency plan and improve forecasting of natural disasters, and set up the first cash working group with OCHA to coordinate the largest intervention using cash-based transfer (CBT) in Haiti ever to take place. The WFP Hurricane Matthew response was complemented by a Special Operation that provided coordination as well as logistics and telecommunications services to the humanitarian community. Operational support included road, sea and air cargo transport, storage service in Port-au-Prince and hurricane affected areas as well as logistics Information management and coordination, and GIS products. In addition, passenger transport by helicopter and plane was provided to hurricane affected areas. Emergency telecommunication services included internet connectivity, and the refurbishment of four community radio stations. Haiti, Republic of (HT) 7 Single Country PRRO

8 Annual Country Beneficiaries Beneficiaries Male Female Total Children (under 5 years) 70,539 69, ,091 Children (5-18 years) 419, , ,243 Adults (18 years plus) 305, , ,595 Total number of beneficiaries in , ,725 1,629,929 Haiti, Republic of (HT) 8 Single Country PRRO

9 Annual Food Distribution in Country (mt) Project Type Cereals Oil Pulses Mix Other Total Development Project 6, , ,634 Single Country EMOP Single Country PRRO Total Food Distributed in ,042 1,369 1,551 1, ,942 19,436 1,899 3,100 1, ,669 Cash Based Transfer and Commodity Voucher Distribution (USD) Project Type Cash Value Voucher Commodity Voucher Single Country EMOP 11,524, Single Country PRRO 931, Total Distributed in ,455, Supply Chain WFP significantly scaled up its supply chain and delivery capacity to respond to the emergency needs in its response to Hurricane Matthew. This scale-up was implemented through multi-modal delivery by road, air and sea, and an increase in the warehousing capacities. It was also supported by the logistics augmentation services put in place under Special Operation (SO) Warehousing facilities were established in Les Cayes and Jeremie and warehouse capacity was increased in Port-au-Prince. WFP relied on air transport of urgently needed goods because torrential rains and flooding had severed road access to most affected areas. In the first week after the hurricane, WFP food commodities were transported to hard-to-reach areas by US military helicopters, and later by WFP contracted helicopters. In addition, coastal deliveries were carried out using a WFP chartered landing craft boat and locally contracted boats. This allowed WFP to serve coastal communities with a higher amount of goods than helicopters could have delivered, while at the same time reducing costs as compared to airlifts. WFP used commercial transporters, its own fleet of all terrain trucks and cooperating partners vehicles for the transportation of food and non-food items. Good primary road transport networks between the ports and WFP warehouses allowed for transportation of commodities in any type of truck. However, WFP's all-terrain truck fleet was often the only reliable transportation on poor secondary and tertiary routes from warehouses to distribution sites. For the school meals project costs for land transport, handling and storage could be reduced through several saving initiatives, including using a combination of WFP and commercial transporters, an enhancement of warehouses and repair and maintenance workshop networks. A combination of local, regional and international purchases ensured timely and appropriate deliveries of assistance. To meet the large and immediate demands of the hurricane response large quantities of imported cereals were purchased from major traders in Port-au-Prince, with smaller quantities of locally produced Plumpy'Sup and salt being procured; rice, pulses, oil and Super Cereal Plus were received from the Global Commodity Management Facility (GCMF) hub in Las Palmas; in-kind commodities were received from US Haiti, Republic of (HT) 9 Single Country PRRO

10 prepositioned stocks. US in-kind commodities were also received for the PRRO nutrition programme and the school meals programme. Continuing the collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture (MARNRD) to support purchases from local small holder farmers for the school meals program, the number of approved suppliers increased from 13 to 17. A special two-years trust fund pilot programme for home grown school feeding complemented the development project in the Nippes department. This model encompassed the provision of staple commodities, fresh fruits and vegetables from farmers from areas near the schools, thereby strengthening farmers' organizations, stimulating the local economy, providing seasonal variation in the school menu, and reducing storage and transport costs. In 2016, this project worked with 38 schools and procured 93 mt of commodities locally, representing up to 90 percent of monthly needs. Annual Food Purchases for the Country (mt) Commodity Local Regional/International Total Corn Soya Blend Iodised Salt Maize Meal 1,021-1,021 Peas - 1,481 1,481 Ready To Use Supplementary Food Rice 9,479 3,881 13,360 Vegetable Oil Total 10,815 6,289 17,104 Percentage 63.2% 36.8% Annual Global Commodity Management Facility Purchases Received in Country (mt) Commodity Total Corn Soya Blend 454 Split Peas 1,150 Total 1,604 Implementation of Evaluation Recommendations and Lessons Learned An independent mid-term evaluation of Haiti's PRRO commissioned by WFP's Office of Evaluation was conducted by TANGO International from 18 April to 10 May One of the key findings was that the objectives of the PRRO and related activities were relevant given Haiti's chronic exposure to recurrent natural hazards and continuing food insecurity and malnutrition. The evaluation noted however that geographic coverage of the operation and the scope of activities lacked a clear prioritization. Budget revision 1 approved in July 2016 addressed this concern, while also taking into consideration internal assessments, oversight and audit missions. The annual number of beneficiaries of food assistance for assets activities was reduced, following a review of the list of partners for resilience-oriented activities, and due to an adjustment in WFP targeting approaches. Targeting Haiti, Republic of (HT) 10 Single Country PRRO

11 approaches were modified based on lessons learnt from the implementation of the EMOP and Kore Lavi activities, as well as through improved beneficiary registration using SCOPE, the WFP system to manage beneficiaries and ensure follow-up on cash transfers made. The evaluation also showed that the PRRO's transfer modalities were overall adequate, with the exception of Super Cereal Plus for moderate acute malnutrition (MAM). Based on this recommendation, the budget revision also proposed a change in the specialised nutritious foods provided, from fortified blended food (Super Cereal Plus) to lipid-based nutrient supplements (Plumpy'Sup). This change aligned the operation with WFP nutrition policy, which strongly recommends lipid-based nutrient supplements instead of fortified blended food for the prevention of MAM. The major lesson learned from the emergency response to Hurricane Matthew was that partners need to be further trained in emergency response, in particular in scaling-up to support a large response and in ensuring protection of beneficiaries. Under the EMOP two lessons learned exercises were planned: one was conducted in December 2016 and the other was scheduled for February With the support of an external facilitator WFP, its implementing partners as well as the financial service provider came together to reflect on the operation and jointly update and improve the existing standard operating procedures. The workshop planned for 2017 will also include sessions with external government stakeholders. The lessons learned exercise was well received by all participants and significantly helped improve especially the cash assistance provided under the PRRO in Haiti, Republic of (HT) 11 Single Country PRRO

12 Project Objectives and Results Project Objectives Over the last two decades, Haiti has been affected by a series of political crises and devastating natural disasters. Due to its geographical location and deforestation, the country is at high risk of drought, landslides and heavy winds and from June through November is subject to tropical storms and hurricanes. This protracted relief and recovery operation (PRRO) is therefore designed to support Government efforts to respond to the needs of at-risk and affected populations and facilitate their recovery. Its focus is on saving lives, rebuilding livelihoods and enhancing resilience to shocks. This operations is fully in line with the Government-endorsed United Nations Integrated Strategic Framework and Plan of Action and is in accordance with the three pillars of the Government s food security and nutrition response: i) food and social safety net interventions; ii) investment in agriculture; and iii) improved basic social services and nutrition. The operation s objectives are to: 1. Support Government interventions to save lives, meet food needs, and enhance food consumption and dietary diversity of the most vulnerable and food insecure populations affected by natural disasters (WFP Strategic Objective (SO) 1); 2. Enhance Government emergency preparedness and response capacity (SO2); 3. Encourage resilience-building efforts that facilitate recovery from natural disasters and mitigate their impact (SO2); 4. Treat acute malnutrition in children under five and pregnant and lactating women and support therapy adherence for people living with HIV and tuberculosis (SO4); 5. Prevent chronic malnutrition and micro-nutrient deficiencies through a focus on the first 1,000 days (SO4); 6. Support the most food insecure by developing a targeting system for the national social safety net programme (SO3) Approved Budget for Project Duration (USD) Cost Category Capacity Dev.t and Augmentation 4,697,950 Direct Support Costs 26,131,865 Food and Related Costs 74,384,961 Indirect Support Costs 10,117,348 Cash & Voucher and Related Costs 39,318,760 Total 154,650,884 Project Activities Activities were concentrated in the most food insecure and disaster prone areas as informed by regular assessments conducted jointly with the Government, e.g. emergency food security assessments (EFSA), a vulnerability database and the work of local "observatories". The operation has been designed through a participatory approach involving affected communities, the Government, United Nations agencies and cooperating partners. More specifically, the operation s activities were as follows: Strategic Objective: Save lives and protect livelihoods in emergencies (SO1) Haiti, Republic of (HT) 12 Single Country PRRO

13 Outcome 1.2: Stabilized or improved food consumption over assistance period for target households Activity: General food distributions (GFD) and distribution of nutritious fortified foods Activities under Strategic Objective 1 were meant to be implemented after a severe shock, so they were provided to respond to the landfall of Hurricane Matthew on 4 October In line with the Government s contingency plan, which WFP contributed to develop through capacity building activities, when Hurricane Matthew hit Haiti, WFP immediately responded by delivering food from its pre-positioned contingency stock and re-allocating stock originally procured for the school meals programme. Overall, WFP had over 6,000 mt in country to use for an immediate response. Local purchases of cereals quickly supplemented the stock on hand. The contingency stocks allowed for the first food distributions to take place in the Grand Anse department three days after the hurricane. The standard ration consisted in 50 kg of cereals, 12,5 kg of pulses and 4 liters of oil to feed a family of 5 for a month. In many cases it was not possible to provide the full ration, as due to road insecurity pipeline breaks between Port-au-Prince and the hurricane affected areas were frequent in the beginning. In these cases WFP decided to distribute what was available if it was ensured that cereals were part of the ration. Identification and targeting of beneficiaries, prioritization in terms of geographical areas of intervention and planning of distributions were carried out in close collaboration with the National Emergency Coordination Center and the Departmental Emergency Operations Center. This process was supplemented by the results of a rapid Emergency Food Security Assessment (EFSA) carried out between 7 and 10 October by WFP, FAO and the National Coordination for Food Security (CNSA). This assessment, whose results were available within a week and oriented most of the food security response for the whole sector, showed that 1.4 million people were in need of food assistance in the hurricane-affected areas out of which 806,000 people were in need of urgent food assistance in the southern part of the country. Under the hurricane response, 907,500 people, or 181,500 households received at least one round of general food distributions by year end. In general the monthly ration was reduced to 83 percent of a full daily food requirement, which reduced distribution waiting time as most on-site scooping was eliminated and original packaging remained intact. The reduction allowed WFP to reach more beneficiaries with the resources available. WFP also provided nutritious foods to prevent acute malnutrition for children under 5 and for pregnant and lactating women (PLW). Children ideally received 15 packs of a lipid based nutrient (Plump'Sup) and 3 kg of fortified blended cereal (CSB++) while PLW received 6 kg of fortified blended cereal (CSB+) and 0,6 litres of oil. However, it was not always possible to distribute the rations as foreseen due to pipeline issues. Distributions took place in November and December reaching a total of over 27,000 beneficiaries, mostly girls and women. This represented 21 percent of the original plan, as distributions were carried out only after the first round of General Food Distributions had been completed, to ensure that the ration of nutritious food given was protected. The targeting of beneficiaries and distributions was done in close partnership with local health authorities and cooperating partners, using existing health infrastructures and networks put in place by Ministry of Health and UNICEF wherever possible. In addition, in mid 2016 limited in-kind assistance was provided to 60,000 people affected by drought under this operation, although the main drought response was given via cash based transfers through Emergency Operation Strategic Objective: Restore food security and nutrition and rebuild livelihoods (SO2) Outcome 2.1: Adequate food consumption reached or maintained by targeted households Outcome 2.2: Improved access to assets and basic services including community and market infrastructure Activity: Food assistance for assets (distribution of cash to restore or built the livelihoods assets) In 2016, WFP s activities were mainly focused on the rehabilitation of livelihoods after several consecutive droughts had hit Haiti in the previous years. In areas where WFP had not been active before under the PRRO, the drought response was managed through EMOP to avoid overlap. The targeted beneficiaries for food assistance-for-assets (FFA) activities were selected amongst households in areas highly affected by food insecurity according to the results of the December 2015 EFSA, conducted by the CNSA and WFP s Vulnerability Analysis and Mapping (VAM) unit, but not already covered under EMOP Beneficiaries in these areas were then selected jointly with the cooperating partners and with the communities using the methodology consistent with the targeting carried out for FFA under EMOP WFP s cooperating partners undertook community level targeting by engaging with the local administration (e.g. health center managers and trusted community leaders) to establish a list of potential beneficiaries through the application of a simplified frequency list approach to reduce discrimination and bias. The beneficiary lists were reviewed and validated by Haiti, Republic of (HT) 13 Single Country PRRO

14 community members that had been most frequently named by people when asked who they trusted most within the community. Household level assessments based on the Household Economic Analysis approach and on community and partner knowledge of specific localities were then undertaken using a vulnerability scorecard that considered individual household s food gap to determine the household s level of access to food, coping strategies and overall exposure to risk. Once the community work was completed, cash distributions were made through a Financial Service Provider (FSP) using emobile phone technology. Taking advantage of the relatively well functioning cell phone infrastructure in Haiti, WFP chose a local mobile phone provider as its FSP. Lists of beneficiaries provided by the cooperating partners were verified and formatted by WFP and communicated to the FSP. In parallel, beneficiaries were provided with a SIM card and allocated an e-wallet which was credited remotely by the FSP. Verification and controls were conducted through the correlation of a PIN, a phone number and an ID. Beneficiaries could redeem their entitlements during on-site distributions, when the FSP and the implementing partner would be onsite to check the identify and hand out cash to beneficiaries. Beneficiaries also had the option to directly get their cash at FSP agents, which provided them with more flexibility. During distributions, specific protection considerations for women and elderly were put in place such as dedicated waiting areas, prioritization of these groups and adapted protection messages. The use of this new technology in Haiti presented both benefits and challenges. Benefits include a countrywide network of fixed outlets that could be used if the beneficiary could not attend the mass distributions. Challenges encountered were primarily the gap in digital literacy among beneficiaries and the absence of national ID cards constraining the verification of beneficiaries. Beneficiaries received around USD 70 per month (accounting for 24 days of work). Projects implemented were identified by the local communities and authorities as priorities such as land preservation, watershed management, infrastructure building or reforestation. To ensure sustainability of the asset created, strong community participation was required. Particular attention was paid to ensuring the equal participation of women in decision making committees. The large scale impact and necessary responses to the drought and hurricane, as well as the timing of the hurricane in relation to the drought, left little opportunity to plan resilience activities. Strategic Objective: Reduce risk and enable people, communities and countries to meet their own food and nutrition needs (SO3) Outcome 3.1: Improved access to livelihood assets has contributed to enhanced resilience and reduced risks from disaster and shocks faced by targeted food-insecure communities and households Outcome 3.2: Risk reduction capacity of countries, communities and institutions strengthened Activity: Encourage resilience-building efforts by incentivizing communities to create assets and build their resistance to shocks through food assistance for assets; Support the food security and resilience of the most food insecure population by developing and institutionalizing a targeting and response system for the national social safety net programme The primary focus of activities under SO3 in 2016 was on the further development of the national social safety net programme, while food assistance for asset activities were implemented under SO2. WFP focused on the priority areas identified by the Government. It supported the institutionalization and national ownership of the Kore Lavi safety net, and strengthened the Government s capacity to better survey, target and register vulnerable households, collaborating with the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor (MAST), among other partners. WFP s institutional support extended to a wide range of other areas, such as Disaster Risk Reduction and Emergency Preparedness and Response (including through South-South Cooperation initiatives in the Caribbean), nutrition and health, and local agriculture. Particular emphasis was placed on designing a shock-response social safety net, so as to bridge the link between humanitarian and development actions and institutions, and better serve affected and vulnerable people in both crises and regular times, for improved resilience and long-term food security. Strategic Objective: Reduce under nutrition and break the intergenerational cycle of hunger (SO4) Outcome 4.1: Reduced under nutrition, including micronutrient deficiencies among children aged 6 59 months, pregnant and lactating women Activity: Nutrition (prevention and treatment of moderate acute malnutrition for children aged 6-59 months and pregnant and lactating women) The activities falling under this strategic objective were part of the multi-year social protection programme Kore Lavi managed by a consortium led by CARE US with support from WFP and ACF France. WFP s role in the nutrition Haiti, Republic of (HT) 14 Single Country PRRO

15 component of the Kore Lavi project shifted mid-2016 as the consortium decided to focus WFP s contribution on managing the logistical aspect of the intervention. WFP ensured that the commodities distributed were assembled in kits for the beneficiaries and transported from WFP s warehouse to storage facilities managed by the community. This change promoted community involvement in the activity. WFP also continued to participate in the monitoring of the distributions and provided technical and strategic support. For the prevention of stunting, the departments targeted were selected according to the prevalence of chronic malnutrition based on the results of the Mortality, Morbidity, and Services Utilization survey (EMMUS) conducted in 2012 and vulnerability criteria defined by the CNSA. The criteria for selecting beneficiaries were based on the Preventing Malnutrition in Children under 2 Approach (PM2A) and therefore included pregnant and lactating women and children aged 6-23 months old. Within communities, beneficiaries were identified in collaboration with health facility coordinators. Every two weeks, beneficiaries received a take-home ration of specialized nutritious food. Monthly rations consisted in 3 kg of cereal and 0,9 kg of pulses for both mothers and children. 1 liter of vegetable oil was given to children and 1,5 liters to PLW who in addition received 6 kg of fortified blended cereal (CSB+) while children received 3 kg of fortified blended cereal (CSB++). For the treatment of moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) beneficiaries assisted were selected according to the national protocol for MAM treatment, and included children aged 6-59 months. A monthly ration of 2,76 kg of lipid based nutrients (Plumpy'Sup) was distributed. These activities had to be scaled down as the number of health centers able to manage the project was lower than initially projected. HIV/TB activities were not conducted in Based on the 2012 demographic health survey (DHS), the HIV prevalence in Haiti was 2.7 percent for women and 1.7 percent for men. WFP integrated support to this vulnerable group in other safety net programmes, including Kore Lavi. Haiti, Republic of (HT) 15 Single Country PRRO

16 Haiti, Republic of (HT) 16 Single Country PRRO

17 Annual Project Food Distribution Commodity Distribution (mt) Actual Distribution (mt) Beans % Bulgur Wheat 1,770 1, % Corn Soya Blend 5,087 1, % High Energy Biscuits % Iodised Salt % Lentils Maize Meal 1, % Peas 5, % Ready To Use Supplementary Food % Rice 19,959 11, % Sugar Vegetable Oil 2,480 1, % Total 36,322 17, % Cash Based Transfer and Commodity Voucher Distribution for the Project (USD) Modality (USD) Actual (USD) Cash 15,075, , % Total 15,075, , % Operational Partnerships General Food Distribution As part of WFP-Haiti s emergency preparedness measures, field level agreements to distribute contingency stock in the event of an emergency had been signed prior to the landfall of Hurricane Matthew. However, the size of the response significantly exceeded the levels of the field level agreements and was greater than what could be handled by the pre-selected partners. From its short-list of partners, WFP was able to quickly contact additional partners and engage them in the response. Lessons learned showed that partners need to be further trained in emergency response, in particular scaling-up to support a large intervention and protection of beneficiaries. Purchases of cereals from local big commercial suppliers and contracting with big commercial transport companies were critical to maintain an adequate food pipeline to respond to the hurricane. The development of partnerships and stand-by agreements with the private sector created opportunities for a more efficient and reliable supply chain in the response to future emergencies. Before Hurricane Matthew, WFP worked with the Directorate for Civil Protection to produce an emergency contingency plan. Government contingency plan was based on a scenario of 100,000 people in need of Haiti, Republic of (HT) 17 Single Country PRRO

18 humanitarian assistance, while WFP planned under the PRRO a contingency for 300,000 people. WFP planned for more people than the Government to make sure sufficient assistance was available if needed. A partnership innovation during the year was the link established between WFP s work with the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour under the Kore Lavi program and WFP s emergency response. This combination is in line with WFP s commitment to provide support to the Government to establish a shock-responsive safety net. During the hurricane response, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour participated in the selection and registration of beneficiaries, notably in facilitating the interaction with local authorities, thus reducing the bias in the selection of beneficiaries in the midst of an election period. Food Assistance for Assets At the beginning of 2016, WFP issued a notice of interest to local and international organizations to identify partners for food assistance-for-assets activities. Partnership selection was based on: experience with food assistance-for-assets interventions; demonstrated results; level of community involvement in previous interventions; and geographic presence in projected zones of high food insecurity. In April 2016, WFP signed a memorandum of understanding with FAO for a project under the UN Integrated Strategic Framework, formulated jointly by the Government of Haiti, FAO and other actors in the field of food and nutrition security. In line with this agreement, WFP s activities were conducted through decentralised services provided by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development through the agricultural offices of different communes. During the summer, WFP s VAM unit in collaboration with the Kore Lavi project team conducted a study on geographic vulnerability. The study identified the department of North-West as the priority area of intervention. Subsequently, WFP signed three agreements with three local partners operating in North West for food assistance-for-assets activities. In 2017, WFP will continue to establish strong partnerships with the Government and local partners to build local capacity and ensure the sustainability of resilience activities. Targeting and Information System Development As part of the Kore Lavi program, WFP completed household surveys in two urban areas (Gonaives and Port-de-Paix), categorized households according to their level of deprivation and produced beneficiary lists for the Kore Lavi social safety net program. Four communes of the Southeast department were also re-surveyed to reassess households level of deprivation in order to update the vulnerability classification of those registered in the database or to add new households. In addition, WFP began an analysis of different survey methodologies to identify the most effective in the Haitian context. Multiple stakeholders were consulted in the process and the results will be available in WFP added 20,000 new and updated 14,000 households to the database of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour s information system (SIMAST). WFP enhanced the functionality of SIMAST by integrating the targeting algorithm directly into SIMAST and by developing a function to provide on-line data analysis tools for decision-makers. WFP team also worked with the MAST-affiliated Social Assistance Fund (CAS) which administered a social safety net database encompassing 15,000 beneficiaries to consolidate this information into SIMAST. Performance Monitoring General Performance monitoring for all ongoing activities was conducted by WFP field monitors and cooperating partners as per their field level agreements. Overall WFP has 15 to 20 field monitors across the country, and in 2016, 8 more were hired to meet the needs of the Hurricane Matthew emergency intervention. To ensure a high quality of monitoring, experienced staff was deployed to hurricane affected areas and then new staff replaced them in their old positions. Only gradually a transfer of responsibility was made. In 2016 WFP focused on process monitoring as with the transition of responsibilities under Kore Lavi and the hurricane intervention it was crucial to ensure that the distribution process was smooth and well organized. During the hurricane intervention for example WFP food monitors played a crucial role in using their experience to assist partners in selecting and setting up safe and well organized distribution sites, as some local partners were new to interventions at this scale. Haiti, Republic of (HT) 18 Single Country PRRO